Looking for example(s) of automatic scaling of controls within a Visual Basic 2022 form

Question

With Visual Basic 2022 (.NET Framework 4.8, Windows Forms Application) I am modifying an older utility I wrote, and I would like it to take advantage of different screen sizes.

I want to scale the contents (labels, list boxes, text boxes, etc.) within a VB form. But not one by one.

If necessary I could treat the problem as involving just two display resolutions, one of which is 1.5 times larger in each dimension compared to the other:

Desktop form client size: 1920 x 1137

Laptop form client size: 1280 x 657

(I can approximate but not exceed these values.)

The help pages for

Automatic scaling in Windows Forms

Adjusting the size and scale of Windows Forms

do not include examples; one or two of those would be very useful. Do they exist, and where?

Answer 1

@Ron Sipherd, Welcome to Microsoft Q&A, you could refer to the following link to set Automatic scaling in a windows form.

Automatic scaling in action

You could look at the following Microsoft Learning to use the desktop font.

How to: Respond to Font Scheme Changes in a Windows Forms Application

Update：

If you want to achieve the function Automatic scaling in Windows Forms, I recommend that you use the following code in constructor:

public Form1()
        {
            InitializeComponent();
            this.AutoScaleMode = System.Windows.Forms.AutoScaleMode.Font;
            this.Font = SystemFonts.DefaultFont;
            this.AutoScaleDimensions = new SizeF(96F, 96F);
            this.AutoScaleMode = System.Windows.Forms.AutoScaleMode.Dpi;
        }

If you want to adjust the size and scale of Windows Forms, I recommend that you used Control.Scale Method. Here is a code example you could refer to.

 [Obsolete]
        private void Form1_Load(object sender, EventArgs e)
        {
            TableLayoutPanel panel = new TableLayoutPanel();
            panel.Dock = DockStyle.Fill;
            panel.RowCount = 2;
            panel.ColumnCount = 2;
            panel.Controls.Add(new Label() { Text = "Name:" }, 0, 0);
            panel.Controls.Add(new TextBox(), 1, 0);
            panel.Controls.Add(new Label() { Text = "Age:" }, 0, 1);
            panel.Controls.Add(new TextBox(), 1, 1);
            panel.Scale(2f);
            this.Controls.Add(panel);
        }

Example:

As the above result shown, all the controls are scaled by a factor of 2.

Best Regards,

Jack

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Answer 2

I think I have the keys to accomplish what I need to do. Have marked Mr. Jun's response as an answer.

And I can expand a little on it, though a work in progress, not a finished product.

Dim fontFactor As Single = 1.25

Private Sub frmResizer_Shown(sender As Object, e As EventArgs) Handles Me.Shown
  me.AutoScaleMode = System.Windows.Forms.AutoScaleMode.Font
End Sub

Private Sub cmdChange_Click(sender As Object, e As EventArgs) Handles cmdChange.Click
  me.Font = New Font(Me.Font.Name, Csng(Me.Font.Size * fontFactor), Me.Font.Style)
  ' Change font size of each control here
  Dim CtrlsCount As Integer = Me.Controls.count
  For Ix As integer = 0 To (CtrlsCount- 1)
    Me.Controls.Item(Ix).Font =  _
        New Font(Me.Controls.Item(Ix).Font.Name, CSng(Me.Controls.Item(Ix).Font.size * fontFactor), Me.Controls.Item(Ix).Font.style)
  Next
End Sub